These nuts are round, and after a little exposure become black, except in that part which originally formed the point of attachment to the receptacle, which is an oblong spot three-fourths of an inch in diameter; the whole bearing some resemblance to the eyeball of a deer, or other animal. Hence the name buck-eye, which is applied to the tree. The several species of æsculus are confined principally to the western states and territories. In allusion to this circumstance, the indigenous backwoodsman is sometimes called buck-eye, in distinction from the numerous emigrants who are introducing themselves from the eastern states. The opprobrious name of Yankee is applied to these last, who do not always stand high in the estimation of the natives of the south and west. Few of these sectional prejudices are, however, to be discovered in Ohio, the greater part of the population here having been derived from New England. Cincinnati, which in 1810, contained 2500 inhabitants, is now said to number about 12,000.[025] Its plan is regular, and most of the buildings are of {21} brick. The dwellings are neat and capacious, and sometimes elegant.
The site of the town was heretofore an aboriginal station, as appears from the numerous remains of ancient works still visible. We forbear to give any account of[pg068] these interesting monuments, as they have already been repeatedly described.[026]
On Tuesday, the 18th, the weather becoming clear and pleasant, Dr. Baldwin thought himself sufficiently recovered to proceed on the voyage; accordingly, having assisted him on board the boat, we left Cincinnati at ten o'clock.
During our stay at that place, we had been gratified by the hospitable attentions of the inhabitants of the town. Mr. Glen was unremitting in his exertions to promote the recovery of Dr. Baldwin's health; to him, as well as to Dr. Drake, and several other gentlemen of Cincinnati, all the members of our party were indebted for many friendly attentions.
Below Cincinnati the scenery of the Ohio becomes more monotonous than above. The hills recede from the river, and are less elevated. Heavy forests cover the banks on either side, and intercept the view from all distant objects. This is, however, somewhat compensated by the magnificence of the forests themselves. Here the majestic platanus attains its greatest dimensions, and the snowy whiteness of its branches is advantageously contrasted with the deep verdure of the cotton-wood, and other trees which occur in the low grounds.
The occidental plane tree is, perhaps, the grandest of the American forest trees, and little inferior, in any respect, to the boasted plane tree of the Levant. The platanus orientalis attains, in its native forests, a diameter of from ten to sixteen feet. An American plane tree, which we measured, on the bank of the Ohio, between Cincinnati and the rapids at Louisville, was fourteen feet in diameter.[pg069] One which stood, some years since, near the village of {22} Marietta, was found, by M. Michaux, to measure 157⁄10 ft. in diameter, at twenty feet from the ground.[027] They often rise to an elevation of one hundred and fifty feet. The branches are very large and numerous, forming a spreading top, densely covered with foliage. Many of those trees, which attain the greatest size, are decayed in the interior of the trunk, long after the annual increase continues to be added at the exterior circumference. The growth of the American plane tree does not appear to be very rapid. It was remarked by Humboldt, that in the hot and damp lands of North America, between the Mississippi and the Alleghany mountains, the growth of trees is about one-fifth more rapid than in Europe, taking for examples the platanus occidentalis, the liriodendron tulipifera, and the cupressus disticha, all of which reach from nine to fifteen feet in diameter. It is his opinion that the growth in these trees does not exceed a foot in diameter in ten years.[028] As far as our observation has enabled us to judge, this estimate rather exceeds than falls short of the truth. This growth is greatly exceeded in rapidity by the baobab, and other trees in the tropical parts of America; also by the gigantic adansonia of the eastern continent,[029] and equalled, perhaps, by several trees in our own climate, whose duration is less extended than that of those above mentioned. [030]
The sycamore, or occidental plane tree, has been cultivated for more than one hundred and eighty years in England, yet it does not appear to have become entirely naturalized there, as we are informed by President Smith,[031] that great numbers were killed by the severe frost of the winters of 1810-11. In America this tree is very widely distributed, and {23} extends northward beyond the forty-fifth degree of north latitude. In the fertile alluvial lands of Otter Creek, and other rivers which discharge into Lake Champlain, the sycamore attains more than one-half the magnitude which it is seen to reach in the most prolific portions of the Mississippi valley; it appears, therefore, that some other cause than the frigidity of the climate, must have occasioned the destruction of the plane trees in England, since it is well known that the winters of Vermont and Lower Canada far surpass in severity those of the island of Great Britain.
The fruit of the sycamore is the favourite food of the paroquet, and large flocks of these gaily-plumed birds constantly enliven the gloomy forests of the Ohio.
During the night of the 18th, the weather being clear, we continued on our voyage, as is customary with most of the steam-boats navigating the Ohio.